green crime

Question 1

Carrabine - 2 types of green crime

Answer 1

• primary green crime
• secondary green crime

Question 2

primary green crime and examples (Carrabine)

Answer 2

directly affect the environment and destroy the environment and earth’s resources, including:
- crimes of air pollution
- crimes of deforestation
- crimes of species decline and animal rights
- crimes of water pollution

Question 3

crimes of air pollution (primary)

Answer 3

China has the highest incidence of premature deaths triggered by air pollution with a WHO report estimating diseases triggered by air pollution have killed 656,000 Chinese citizens

Question 4

crimes of deforestation (primary)

Answer 4

• illegal logging over the past 40 years has destroyed around 20% of the Amazon Rainforest
• Environmental Justice Foundation believes 3.2 million m2 of illegally logged timber has been sold in the UK

Question 5

crimes of species decline and animal rights (primary)

Answer 5

• animal trafficking and poaching
• 70 people arrested recently in Brazil accused of running an international smuggling operation that traded half a million wild animals a year (biggest operation in a decade against illegal traders of exotic animals

Question 6

crimes of water pollution (primary)

Answer 6

• eg TNCs activities polluting drinking supplies that harm human and marine life
• 2010 drilling rig led to BP massive oil spill (worst in American history)
• company’s negligence cost BP $3 billion

Question 7

secondary green crime and examples

Answer 7

crimes that come about due to trying to avoid laws and regulations that protect the environment or where governments and businesses try to avoid environmental regulations, this may include:
- state violence against oppositional groups
- disposal of hazardous waste and organised crime

Question 8

state violence against oppositional groups (secondary)

Answer 8

eg the French Secret Service blew up the Greenpeace Ship the Rainbow Warrior where it attempted to prevent nuclear testing

Question 9

disposal of hazardous waste and organised crime (secondary)

Answer 9

• toxic/radioactive waste is expensive to destroy so western organisations may illegally dump this in the third world
• Bridgland - 2004 tsunami washed illegally dumped waste onto Somali beaches
• European countries frequently dump waste illegally
• the Italian mafia are heavily involved in the illegal dumping of toxic waste

Question 10

Beck - global risk society (globalisation)

Answer 10

• we now live in a global risk society in late modern westernised society
• we can provide enough resources for all
• technology has created new manufactured risks that we have never faced before (eg global warming)
• due to the spread of this affected us all this suggests globalisation has caused many green crimes (eg pollution as we move things between countries)

Question 11

Marxism and green crime

Answer 11

• an inevitable consequence of the criminological nature of capitalism
• businesses have caused many green crimes
• ecocides seem necessary to maintain profits and the economy
• capitalists will resist laws as this may damage their profit margins
• business owners may actively commit green crimes to cut costs and maintain profit margins

Question 12

interactionism and green crime

Answer 12

• view green crime the same way they would view any form of crime and deviance
• an event only becomes criminal when moral entrepreneurs begin to define it as deviant
• why green crimes have only been a recent issue in society
• western world has the power to do this, acting as the moral entrepreneur
• labelling something as green crime could lead to other secondary deviance because of labelling

Question 13

strengths of green crime theory

Answer 13

• relatively new and radical approach that points out humans aren’t the only victims of crime
• become more important as it affects everyone regardless of ethnicity, gender, class etc
• highlights that the poorest and most vulnerable are worst affected with most harm being caused by white western world (environmental racism)
• important to study due to global scale crimes that may be irreversible

Question 14

weaknesses of green crime theory

Answer 14

• hard to define what constitutes a green crime due to different laws across international boundaries
• some may or may not be considered green crimes by others (eg ecocides such as habitat destruction may be seen as green crime or simply the progress of capitalism)
• majority are not considered criminal and may just be morally wrong in particular cultures (eg dumping waste in developing world as it is cheaper)
• some may argue green crime is under control with legislation so may not need to be studied further